Public trust doctrines

An article on western states' public trust doctrines - "emphasis on the plural" according to author Robin Kundis Craig - appears in the latest Ecology Law Quarterly. In the "arid West," a state's public trust doctrine is a legal tool "that can re-balance private and public rights in water."

The article notes four key factors in the evolution of public trust doctrines in the West:

1. the severing of water rights from real property ownership and the riparian rights doctrine,
2. subsequent state declarations of public ownership of fresh water,
3. clear and explicit perceptions of the scarcity of water and the importance of submerged lands and environmental amenities, and
4. a willingness to consider water and other environmental issues to be of constitutional importance and/or to incorporate broad public trust mandates into statutes.

From these factors, the author found two important trends:

1. the extension of public rights based on states’ ownership of the water itself, and
2. an increasing, and still cutting-edge, expansion of public trust concepts into ecological public trust doctrines that are increasingly protecting species, ecosystems, and the public values that they provide.

An appendix provides summaries of the public trust doctrines of 19 western states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, and WY. The water law system of Hawaii is described as: "Combination of Native Hawaiian rights with elements of both riparianism and prior appropriation."


"A Comparative Guide to the Western States’ Public Trust Doctrines: Public Values, Private Rights, and the Evolution Toward an Ecological Public Trust" (pdf, 146pp/756kB), in Ecology Law Quarterly, 2010, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 53-197

Just in ... Environmental review in Hawaii

Report to the Legislature on Hawaii's Environmental Review System, by Karl Kim, Denise Antolini, and Peter Rappa, was prepared in response to the passage of Act 1 by the Legislature in 2008. Section 10 therein required the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) to contract with the University of Hawaii (UH) to study the State's environmental review process, specifically:

1. Examine the effectiveness of the current environmental review system created by chapters 341, 343, and 344, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
2. Assess the unique environmental, economic, social, and cultural issues in Hawaii that should be incorporated into an environmental review system;
3. Address larger concerns and interests related to sustainable development, global environmental change, and disaster-risk reduction; and
4. Develop a strategy, including legislative recommendations, for modernizing Hawaii's environmental review system so that it meets international and national best-practices standards.

From the report's executive summary:

Hawaii’s "trigger" and "exempt" approach is now archaic compared to the more efficient "discretionary approval" approach used in many other states and the focus on "major" actions under well-accepted federal law. The diverse group of stakeholders of the current system, of whom over 100 participated in this study, has different views about the specific problem and solutions, yet there is a shared sense that the system is in need of change.

The report proposes that Hawaii update, refocus, and streamline its environmental review system by replacing the current "project trigger" screen, which encourages late review and 11th hour public participation, with a new "earliest discretionary approval" screen to encourage early review and public participation.

An omnibus bill to amend chapters 341 and 343 is included.

Report to the Legislature on Hawaii's Environmental Review System (pdf, 180pp/1.6MB), Jan. 2010
KFH354 K55 2010

The UH Study Team has a blog on this project.

Costs of reducing emissions

In a brief issued yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) discusses the economic costs of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions in the U.S. in terms of (1) determinants of costs, and (2) size of costs.

What determines the costs of reducing emissions?

• Emissions in the absence of policy changes - if emissions are allowed to grow, mitigation costs would be greater
• Types of policies adopted - regulatory or market-based
• Response of the economy - the more easily producers and consumers can respond to price changes, the lower costs would be
• Efforts by other countries - their policies would influence U.S. costs

How large are estimated costs?

• Changes in energy use and emissions - changes are only modest in the near term, thru 2025
• Allowance prices - projections relate to H.R. 2454 (see below)
• Macroeconomic impact - net effects on GDP are likely to be negative because most benefits are expected in the second half of this century
• Impact on employment - H.R. 2454 would cause a significant shift in the composition of employment
• Distribution of costs - under H.R. 2454, the loss in purchasing power would be distributed to benefit lower-income households

CBO uses studies of H.R. 2454 (pdf, 1428pp), the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, for its range of estimates.

The Costs of Reducing Greenhouse-Gas Emissions, Nov. 23, 2009
      Brief (pdf, 12pp/656kB)
      Blog

Just in ... Haleakala FEIS

Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope on the proposed ATST within the Haleakala High Altitude Observatory (HO) site on Maui was prepared by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The purpose of the project "would be to help scientists understand the solar magnetic activities and variability that drive space weather and the hazards it creates for astronauts and air travelers, and for communications to and from satellites."

Back in May, "Haleakala called best site for telescope" headlined an article in the Star Bulletin that reported NSF had studied 70 sites around the world, including Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, and selected Haleakala as "the only site that satisfies the goals of the world's largest optical solar telescope."

TD194.5 N32 2009
FEIS (pdf, 4 vols.)

See also NSF's ATST environmental compliance website with links to related documents

Climate change and U.S.

A recent paper from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gives an overview of the potential impacts of climate change in the U.S. The paper discusses impacts on:

• The physical environment - temperature; precipitation; cyclones, typhoons, and hurricanes; ocean currents, sea level, and ocean acidification
• Biological systems - ecosystems and biodiversity; agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
• Economy and human health - water supply and other infrastructure; human health; and aggregate economic impacts

A primary source used for the paper was the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Potential Impacts of Climate Change in the United States
    Report (pdf, 33pp/1.3MB), May 2009
    Blog, May 4, 2009

Recent GAO reports

From the Government Accountability Office (GAO):

DEFINED BENEFIT PENSIONS: Survey Results of the Nation's Largest Private Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors, GAO-09-291 (pdf, 65pp/3.8MB), March 30, 2009

GAO surveyed 94 of the nation's largest defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors for (1) changes to pension and benefit offerings, including to defined contribution (DC) plans and health offerings, over the last 10 years, and (2) possible future changes to pensions and how they might be influenced by changes in pension law and other factors. There were 44 responses. GAO noted a significant shift from DB plans to DC plans. DB plans have declined from about 92,000 in 1990 to under 29,000 today, and 28 percent of plans reported in the survey were under a plan freeze.


CLIMATE CHANGE: Observations on Federal Efforts to Adapt to a Changing Climate, GAO-09-534T (pdf, 14pp/184kB), March 25, 2009

GAO has been working with the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming on adaption. This testimony summarizes (1) actions that federal, state, local, and international authorities are taking to adapt to a changing climate, (2) the challenges that federal, state, and local officials face in their efforts to adapt, and (3) relevant actions that Congress and federal agencies can take.


URBAN PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS: Congestion Relief Initiative Holds Promise; Some Improvements Needed in Selection Process, GAO-09-154 (pdf, 99pp/928kB), March 25, 2009

In 2007 the Dept. of Transportation (DOT) awarded $848 million to five cities (Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle) under the Urban Partnership Agreements (UPA, Urban Partnerships) to relieve congestion. The UPA initiative encouraged the use of the 4 Ts: tolling (congestion pricing), transit, technology, and telecommuting. This report addresses (1) how well DOT communicated UPA selection criteria, (2) whether it had discretion to allocate grant funds to UPA recipients and consider congestion pricing as a priority selection factor, and (3) how it is ensuring that UPA award conditions are met and results are assessed.


U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: Escalating Financial Problems Require Major Cost Reductions to Limit Losses, GAO-09-475T (pdf, 20pp/264kB), March 25, 2009

The financial problems of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) have been widely covered in the media. In this testimony, GAO reports on USPS's deteriorating finances, with such stats as accelerating declines in mail volume (11 billion pieces) and losses ($2 billion) in the first five months of FY 2009. GAO focuses on (1) USPS's financial condition and outlook and (2) its options and actions to remain financially viable in the short and long term.

Just in ...

The American Journey of Barack Obama, by the Editors of Life Magazine. This is a photographic and narrative journey of Obama's life from his boyhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, his schooling at Columbia and Harvard, his early political years in Chicago and the Senate in Washington, to his campaign and victory in the presidential race. Family photographs trace his roots in Kenya and Kansas to his life with Michelle and their two daughters today. 176pp.

E901.1 O23 S84 2008
ISBN 978-0-316-04560-5


Hot, Flat , and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America, by Thomas L. Friedman. Friedman says our world is getting "hot, flat, and crowded" because of global warming, the rise of the middle class around the world, and rapid population growth. He sees energy and environmental crises and calls for American leadership in Code Green: "a strategy that can help to ease global warming, biodiversity loss, energy poverty, petrodictatorship, and energy supply shortages--and make America stronger at the same time." 438pp.

GE197 F75 2008
ISBN 978-0-374-16685-4

See New York Times review, Sept. 9, 2008

Just in...vog

After March 12, 2008, when a new gas vent in Halemaumau crater significantly increased vog emissions, a House Special Committee on Vog Effects of the Hawaii Legislature was established. Hearings were held in the summer covering health and public safety, agriculture, and economic impacts. The Committee's report and supporting documents were recently received.

House Special Committee on Vog Effects Report (pdf, 20pp/784kB), Oct. 6, 2008
RA576.6 H32 2008

Supporting Documents to House Special Committee on Vog Effects Report dated October 6, 2008
RA576.6 H3 H33 2008

Recent GAO reports

From the Government Accountability Office (GAO):

LOBBYING DISCLOSURE: Observations on Lobbyists' Compliance with New Disclosure Requirements, GAO-08-1099 (pdf, 37pp/1.5MB), Sept. 30, 2008

This is GAO's first annual report on the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) of 2007, P.L. 110-81 (pdf, 42pp.), which requires GAO to report on (1) lobbyists' compliance with the Act with supporting documents, (2) challenges to complying with the Act, and (3) the process for referring cases to the Dept. of Justice and other means to enforce the Act.


ELECTIONS: States, Territories, and the District Are Taking a Range of Important Steps to Manage Their Varied Voting System Environments, GAO-08-874 (pdf, 129pp/1.98MB), Sept. 25, 2008

For this study GAO was asked to answer the following questions: (1) what voting methods and systems are jurisdictions using in federal elections and what changes are underway; (2) how do they certify or otherwise approve voting systems; (3) what other steps do they take to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and security of voting systems; (4) how do they identify, evaluate, and respond to voting system problems; and (5) how do they view federal voting system-related resources and services.


WILDLIFE REFUGES: Changes in Funding, Staffing, and Other Factors Create Concerns about Future Sustainability, GAO-08-797 (pdf, 131pp/3.2MB), Sept. 22, 2008

The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) comprises 548 wildlife refuges and 37 wetland management districts. (Hawaii has 18 wildlife refuges.) GAO's study covers funding, staffing, policy initiatives, external factors (extreme weather, adjacent development), habitat management, and visitor services in FY 2002-2007.


PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION: Improvements Needed to Address Financial and Management Challenges, GAO-08-1162T (pdf, 29pp/504kB), Sept. 24, 2008

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION: Need for Improved Oversight Persists, GAO-08-1062 (pdf, 34pp/964kB), Sept. 10, 2008

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures the pensions of nearly 44 million private-sector workers and retirees. The Sept. 24 testimony covers (1) PBGC's role in protecting pension benefits and how it is funded, (2) the financial challenges facing PBGC, and (3) PBGC's governance, oversight and management challenges. It focuses on the single-employer pension insurance program. The Sept. 10 study covers (1) the steps PBGC has taken to improve policy direction and oversight, and (2) Congressional and other governmental oversight.


COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT: Measuring Program's Effectiveness Continues to Be a Challenge, GAO-08-1045 (pdf, 59pp/1.18MB), Sept. 12, 2008

Coastal zone management is administered by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that provides grants to participating states under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). There are 34 state programs (including territories and commonwealths). GAO reported on (1) NOAA's methodology for awarding CZMA grants, (2) how NOAA ensures that grant activities comply with the CZMA, and (3) how NOAA measures the effectiveness of state programs. There are tables for each of the grant types: coastal zone management, coastal zone enhancement, and coastal nonpoint pollution control. Allocations for the 3 types of grants for Hawaii in FY 2008 were $1.8 million, $174,000, and $42,000, respectively.

RGGI auction

Follow-up to today's earlier FR post, Reuters reports RGGI's first auction of permits allowing power plants to emit a greenhouse gas "raised nearly $39 million."

The auction kicked off the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an agreement by ten states to begin regulating carbon dioxide emissions from more than 230 power plants in January. The states, from Maryland to Maine, are taking action in the absence of guidance from the Bush Administration on how to regulate the gases widely blamed for warming the planet.

RGGI's website reports, "All allowances offered in Auction 1 were sold at a clearing price of $3.07." The RGGI states plan to use the money to protect consumers from higher costs resulting from the emissions cap.

Where Feds fear to tread

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states initiative which puts limits on carbon dioxide emissions from 233 utilities, making them pay for each ton of pollutants. RGGI is the first mandatory cap-and-trade program in the US. According to a Sept 16 story in the New York Times, the ten states cooperating in this effort:

will set their own limits, with each issuing tradable permits, or allowances, for carbon pollution. On Sept. 25, utilities will start bidding at auction for allowances, which they can later sell - mimicking the so-called cap-and-trade programs that effectively reduced acid rain in the 1990s.

RGGI's factsheet (pdf, 75kB) claims four main goals:

• Reduce CO2 emissions - The cap on emissions of CO2 from power plants in the RGGI region will be 10 percent lower by 2018 than at the start of the RGGI program in 2009.
• Support a green economy - The ten states will use revenues from CO2 allowance auctions to boost investment for energy efficiency and renewables.
• Promote energy independence - Participating states should be able to invest 50 percent more per capita for helping consumers use energy efficiently.
• Provide a model for a national program to reduce CO2 emissions - RGGI demonstrates that a national program to reduce CO2 emissions can benefit both the environment and the economy.

Auction results should be made available at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2008.

Visit, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

CO2 cap & trade

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Peter Orzsag testified before the House Committee on Ways and Means on designing a cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Under cap-and-trade, policymakers would set a cap on total emissions for a certain period and regulated firms would have allowances of the emissions; after initial distribution, firms could buy and sell the allowances among themselves. Among the testimony's key points:

• Emission allowances would have substantial value. Under the cap-and-trade proposal that went to the Senate floor in June, allowances would be worth around $112 billion once the cap took effect in 2012.
• The ultimate effect of a policy decision to sell or give away allowances could be either progressive or regressive on high-income or low-income households, respectively.
• The rise in prices for energy and energy-intensive goods and services would impose a larger burden, relative to income, on low-income than on high-income households.
• Energy-intensive U.S. industries that face foreign competition could lose sales to countries with less stringent emission policies.

Issues in Designing a Cap-and-Trade Program for Carbon Dioxide Emissions (pdf, 22pp/172kB), September 18, 2008

Global warming: different views

Last month the Brookings Institution issued a paper on factors influencing Americans' perceptions of global warming. Major surveys were taken in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The five factors presented to respondents as affecting their belief in global warming:

• Declining glaciers and polar ice
• Higher temperatures in local area
• Computer modeling
• Hurricane Katrina
• "An Inconvenient Truth"

The authors found the first two factors to be significant in Americans' belief in global warming; the last two less so.

But there are significant differences in responses of various subgroups divided by place of residence, partisanship, gender, and age, suggesting that no across-the-board consensus on climate change has emerged at the time when federal institutions are giving unprecedented attention to this issue.

A Reason to Believe: Examining the Factors that Determine Americans’ Views on Global Warming (pdf, 14pp/240kB), July 2008


Just in at the Library...

Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years, Updated and Expanded, by S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery, presents the theory that current global warming is part of a natural 1500-year cycle, and we are 150 years into a Modern Warming that will last for centuries. The authors state, "The message from the ice cores is clear: global warming is natural, unstoppable, and not nearly as dangerous as the public hysteria over it." The greater concern, they say, is the next Big Ice Age.
(QC981.8 G56 S55 2007) (ISBN-13:978-0-7425-5124-4, paper) (ISBN-10:0-7425-5124-5, paper)
See press release

Recycling CFLs

Since 2006, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) have seen a sharp increase in sales and now comprise 20% of the U.S. light bulb market, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS). With their increased use, concerns have arisen about the disposal of CFLs because they contain small amounts of mercury and may be deemed household hazardous waste. In light of this designation, the CRS paper includes a discussion of the disposal and recycling of CFLs, and notes recycling programs in Maine and Minnesota, and the Northwest Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Recycling Project for Oregon and Washington.

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs): Issues with Use and Disposal, RS22807, (pdf, 6pp/80kB, from Open CRS), February 13, 2008

Recent CRS reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports from Open CRS:

The Effect of State-Legalized Same-Sex Marriage on Social Security Benefits and Pensions, RS21897 (pdf, 5pp/68kB), Jan. 3, 2008

Same-sex spouses are ineligible for Social Security benefits because of gender-based definitions of "wife" and "husband" in the Social Security Act (42 USC 416 (b) and (f)), and the definition of "marriage" in the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, P.L. 104-199 (pdf).

Both federal and private pensions regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are required to comply with DOMA's definition of a spouse as a "person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."


Dollar Crisis: Prospect and Implications, RL34311 (pdf, 17pp/124kB), Jan. 8, 2008

Since 2002, the dollar in international exchange has fallen about 29%, accelerating in latter 2007. Among the report's findings are three possible reasons why a dollar crisis won't occur: a large share of a global saving glut is attracted to U.S. asset markets, resulting in large capital inflows to the U.S.; under the current global monetary arrangement known as Breton Woods II, central banks, particularly in Asia, use dollar reserves to stabilize their currencies; and the "dark matter argument"--that large measurement errors in U.S. trade data understate U.S. exports and overstate U.S. net external debt, the dark matter being invisible assets.


Regulation of Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions: State and Federal Standards, RS22788 (pdf, 6pp/76kB), Jan. 11, 2008

This report stems from the denial by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of California's request for a waiver to establish its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards and compares them with federal standards. California was denied a waiver because federal fuel economy standards in the 2007 energy bill (P.L. 110-140) "will be more stringent than the California program." CRS cites the two relevant California bills that were enacted: AB1493 (pdf, 8pp), in 2002, requiring GHG reductions for vehicles from model year 2009, and AB32 (pdf, 13pp), in 2006, requiring additional GHG reductions.

See earlier FR posts on the energy bill (H.R. 6 that became P.L. 110-140):
     Smart grid - the bigger picture (1-8-08)
     Smart grid (1-3-08)

State greenhouse gases

This week the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report on state greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The report uses three variables, or emissions drivers, to calculate GHG emissions: population, per capita income, and GHG emissions intensity. Of the three, CRS considers GHG intensity the most relevant to climate change policy. GHG intensity is a measure of GHG emissions from state sources divided by the gross state product (GSP). Hawaii ranks 46th in GHG emissions and drivers. The report also covers CO2 emissions intensity, which account for 85% of GHG emissions in the U.S. In a ranking of CO2 emissions intensity and its drivers, Hawaii ranks 34th.

State Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Comparison and Analysis, CRS Report RL34272 (pdf, 34pp/200kB, from Open CRS), December 5, 2007

Cutting emissions, cutting costs

A New York Times (NYT) article highlights a recently published report by McKinsey & Company which says the United States could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 28% "at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations." NYT reports the study finds reductions implementations "would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers."

There are a significant number of options where the long-term savings in terms of lower operating costs and/or lower energy usage levels outweigh the initial costs of adoptions. In simple terms, the savings outweigh the costs and significant GHG abatement can be achieved.

The study was sponsored by DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison), Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric and Shell.

Achieving these reductions at the lowest cost to the economy, however, will require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future.

Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?
(November 29, 2007, pdf, 107pp/4.11MB)

executive summary (pdf, 10pp/460KB)

Recent CBO reports

Testimony on Approaches to Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions       (pdf, 16pp/116kB), Nov. 1, 2007

The Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) testified before the House Budget Committee on reducing CO2 emissions. He advocated an incentive-based approach as more economically efficient than "command-and-control" policies. Two main incentives would be taxes (to regulate the price of emissions) or a cap and trade system (to regulate the quantity of emissions). Of the two, a "well-designed tax would yield higher net benefits."


The Long-Term Outlook for Health Care Spending
      (pdf, 35pp/552kB), November 2007

This study gives CBO's projections of health care spending over the next 75 years under current federal law. In view of rising health costs, CBO assumes that employers, households, and insurance firms, to avoid reducing consumption of other goods and services, will change their behavior, e.g., higher cost sharing, increased utilization management, reduced insurance coverage by employers, and greater scrutiny of new technologies.

See related FR post, "Medicare and nursing homes" (8/1/07)


Long-Term Unemployment (pdf, 34pp/476kB), Oct. 2007

Unemployment lasting more than six months has increased. This report examines such long-term unemployed workers during 2001-2003 - their characteristics, sources of income, and subsequent activities.

Climate change impacts public sector budgets

University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER) released their report examining direct and indirect costs of climate change to America as a nation and to the many communities within.

The direct costs of not taking on the challenges posed by climate change are often neglected - and typically not calculated. The indirect effects are considered even less frequently, yet can be substantial ... All sectors of the economy will be affected.

Climate change impacts placing "immense strains on public sector budgets" and the uneven distribution of impacts across the country are two of several key lessons presented and supported in this study.

Recent estimates indicate that a sea-level rise of nearly 20 inches (50 cm) by 2100 would cause $23-170 billion in damages to coastal property throughout the US. In Hawaii, sea level rise will require upgrades to the drinking and wastewater infrastructures -- at a cost that exceeds $1 .9 billion over the next 20 years...

The biggest threats to [Hawaii's] already burdened infrastructure will be sea level rise and tropical storms.

CIER, established in 2006 as a multidisciplinary environmental research and collaboration group, works to develop "strategies and tools to guide policy and investment decisions, particularly to help mitigate climate impacts."

The US Economic Impacts of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction
(October 2007, pdf, 51pp/5.2MB)

Executive Summary (pdf, 12pp/1.7MB)

Regional Highlight: Hawaii and US Affiliated Islands (pdf, 2pp/136KB)

Breast cancer and early puberty

The younger girls are when they get their first periods, the greater their risk of breast cancer later in life. In fact, first menstruation (menarche) before age 12 raises breast cancer risk by 50 percent compared to menarche at age 16.

The Breast Cancer Fund recently published their report reviewing current scientific literature on the timing of puberty and examining "the nutritional, psychosocial and environmental factors that contribute to its timing." The report's author, Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., writes:

We know that endocrine disrupting chemicals are a possible cause of early puberty but we also know that exposure to these chemicals in utero or early in life can also lead to low birth weight and obesity, which are themselves possible causes of early puberty.

Key findings include possible risk factors of early puberty:

• depression
• eating disorders
• suicide attempts
• early alcohol abuse
• violent victimization
• teenage sexual activity
• lower academic achievement

Dr. Steingraber recommends particular actions to protect the young:

• Combat childhood obesity by promoting breastfeeding early in life and supporting school-based healthy school lunch and obesity prevention programs for older children
• Support efforts to improve access to healthy foods in urban, low-income areas
• Eliminate fetal exposures to toxic chemicals in our everyday lives
• Support the phase-out of endocrine disrupting chemicals
• Support organic agriculture at home and in schools

The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know
(August 2007, 73pp/pdf, 1.3MB)

Advocate's Guide
(August 2007, 9pp/pdf, 1MB)